March 14, 2011: Blue or Pink?

Ali's amazing mini-muffins she made with Grandpa...

Heaveno!

We'll know tomorrow!

Tomorrow, we go for the ultrasound (boy or girl) and the amnio (EB or no EB).  We'll find out about whether we'll need Barbie or GI Joe under the Christmas tree right then and there (hopefully), but it will probably be 2-4 weeks before we hear back on EB.  We've been waiting since December, and in our heads, we've already prepared ourselves to wait till April, so tomorrow is at least a step in the direction, but not the destination.



Check back with Ali tomorrow about whether she wants a brother or sister; it changes regularly.  Today, it was sister apparently.  Last I heard, it was brother, so who knows!  All I know is that Ali gets cuter and wiser by the day, is LOVING her school, and can't wait to go to kindergarten.  In fact, I was filling out her registration forms today, and it was just boggling my mind.  I shuddered as I filled out the PTA information sheet; not because I don't want to be involved, but because I'm now filling out PTA forms!



When did this happen???

Well, we have some good news and disappointing news on the PUCK front.  First the good news: the University of Minnesota has extended their contract for their text 2 donate program for another year!  It was to run out at the end of April, and at first they were planning on letting it expire.  However, I found out this morning that it will be renewed!  That makes me SO HAPPY, because it will allow me to build this strategy out over time with much greater success.  A lot of my seminar holding friends do big events, but frankly, there weren't any others planned between now and May 1.  Now, I can really harass them into giving me 15 minutes at their big events over the rest of the year.  Man, that makes me so excited!

The bad news?  I received an email today that the mall that contacted us about doing Bella's Birthday Bash in the winter, the mall I met with and exchanged confirmation emails about the date, today, less than two months out from the event, decided that we should do an in-store event with one of their retailers instead.  Cool, except that is quite a deviation from the plan that has been discussed since December.  Angelique and I had some concerns because they kept saying on the one hand that they were excited to work with us, and on the other hand that they don't do these kind events for outside charities.  We just figured we were really lucky and blessed, but as time went on, we were wondering what was in it for them to do this event at all?  After all, wouldn't this open a Pandora's Box of other charities wanting the same treatment?  So, we can't say we are surprised, but we are disappointed.

Three great lessons to be reminded of in all this:

1.  Get a contract signed.  That's when you know people mean business.
2.  Make SURE you are working with the decision maker.  At our first meeting, I though I met them all. Turns out there was another player in the mix that I never got to meet who was the final decision maker.
3.  Never let someone else do your selling for you.  I made the mistake of thinking that because the people I met with were all three on board and excited, that this would translate UP the proverbial ladder. Nope.  Rarely does it work that way.  Find the decision maker, and sell them personally.

When I use the word "sell" above, I use the definition from the dictionary on my mac:  "To persuade someone of the benefits of."

No one can sell (persuade someone of the benefits of) your message like you can.  This is me typing to myself right now.  It's funny; I've been trained in all this stuff before in a professional context, and I guess need to start thinking that way with everything related to PUCK and Bella-related events, products, services, etc.  No one can tell our story like Ang and me.  After all, it isn't anyone else's story!

In other news over the weekend, thanks to Grandma, Ang and I got to:



1)  go out to dinner
2)  go to an event/party where we got to tell our story to about 30 people.  The host then made everyone get out the cell phones and text BELLA to 50555 to donate $5!
3)  sleep in
4)  go to brunch on the Queen Mary!



THANK YOU, GRANDMA!!!!!

It was sooo nice.  We love Ali to pieces of course, but it was such a treat to get to spend about 22 hours just together as the couple we are.  We missed each other!  We got to have grown up conversations that lasted as long as we wanted them to!  Oh, and the sleeping in thing... oh MAN, that was AWESOME.  Seriously, we bonded sooo much.  I can't recommend it enough to other parents.  Do the little bit extra work to figure out how to pull it off if you haven't in a while.  You need it more than you realize!  For those who do this already, KUDOS to you!  We have to water the roots, not the fruits, folks, and the roots of the family is THE MARRIAGE.  The fruits are the children.  You can't water the fruits directly on a tree, last time I checked.  If you want beautiful healthy fruits, you gotta water the roots.  (Thanks to T. Harv Ecker for introducing me to this analogy).



Alright, a confession.  I miss you guys, too!  I have looked at this funny box I type into nightly through one of the most intense 9 months of my life.  I miss talking to you daily as well, but I am committed to bringing out more than just this blog to people and in order to do so, I gotta restructure my time.  Thank you for understanding; we hope we won't lose you.  You've transformed this experience for us into one of continual growth, learning, and hope.  Thank you.  We are so grateful to have you in our lives.

P.S. This is going to sound funny, but if someone who figured out how to leave comments could leave a brief tutorial on how to do it, it would be appreciated! LOL.

God night!